10 Best Time Tracking Software and Apps (with Free Options)
There are two reasons why time tracking is still a source of stress for some managers, supervisors, and employees.
The first is that the business uses a solution that doesn't suit it, and the second is not using any time tracking software at all.
Whatever the reason, there’s no doubt that a time management system can help keep track of your team’s activities and productivity.
To find the best time tracking software for your company, we evaluated twenty solutions, then narrowed the list down to our top ten recommendations.
Best Time Tracking Software
1. Monday.com
Best Time Tracking Software for Small Business
Monday.com is a visual time management software with powerful collaboration tools. The software has a simple interface that makes it easy for teams to get on board.
By setting up your workflows on Monday, you can easily switch between projects and see what everyone is doing.
Main Features
User Management
Manage users by department or team and create groups. This feature allows you to generate reports by group or assign tasks.
Custom Views
Track how your employees spend their time at the office and know what everyone is supposed to be doing.
Automation
Streamline your work processes to save time and be more productive. This capability ensures that the app reports everything correctly no matter the device a user is on (mobile or desktop).
Pricing
- 3 Work Boards
- 2 Team Members
- Unlimited Docs
- 500 MB Storage
- 200+ Project Templates
- Unlimited Boards
- Unlimited Team Members
- Unlimited Viewers
- 5 GB Storage
- 1-Week Activity Log
- Calendar, Timeline, Map Views
- 250 Actions for Automations
- 250 Actions for Integrations
- 20 GB Storage
- 6-Month Activity Log
- Unlimited Guest Access
- 25000 Actions for Automations
- 25000 Actions for Integrations
- 100 GB Storage
- 1-Year Activity Log
- Dedicated Customer Agent
- 250000 Automations
- 250000 Actions for Integrations
- Enterprise Analytics
Find out more Monday pricing or Monday review
Monday.com offers five plans:
- The Individual plan is free for up to 2 seats
- The Basic plan at $8 seat/month
- The Standard plan at $10 seat/month
- The Pro plan at $16 seat/month
- For the Enterprise plan, you will need to get custom pricing
Save 18% when you choose the annual subscription.
2. ClickUp
Best Free Time Tracking App for Growing Teams
ClickUp is one of the best time tracking tools that offers a forever-free plan. The easy-to-use AI-powered system helps you fill the blanks on your timesheets and can manage your tasks on the Gants charts in a visually pleasing way.
Over 800,000 companies like IBM, Padres, and Webflow use ClickUp to track their time, which is why you should give it a try too.
Main Features
Reporting and Analytics
Create summaries and reports with a few clicks to analyze large data sets relating to tasks. For example, you can review the daily or weekly stats of a particular project.
Alerts
When employees forget to check in or out, this feature alerts them. ClickUp also alerts you when your team is running behind schedule on a project.
Time Tracking
Record the time employees use to complete organizational tasks. That can be checking in and out, browsing the internet, and active and idle time.
Pricing
- 24/7 Support
- 100 Automations/Month
- Built-in Time Tracking
- Kanban & Calendar View
- 100 MB Storage
- Live Chat Support
- 1000 Automations/Month
- Guest Access Control
- Unlimited Map & Gantt Views
- Unlimited Storage
- Unlimited Dashboards
- 10000 Advanced Automations/Month
- Unlimited Teams
- Timesheets Integration
- Unlimited Timeline Uses
- Priority Customer Service
- 25000 Pro Automations/Mo
- Unlimited Subtasks in Multiple Lists
- API calls: 1000/Minute
- Custom Capacity for Workload
Find out more ClickUp pricing or ClickUp review
ClickUp offers five plans:
- The Free Forever plan
- The Unlimited plan at $5 member/month paid annually
- The Standard plan at $9 member/month paid annually
- The Pro plan at $16 member/month paid annually
- For the Enterprise plan, you will need to get custom pricing
3. Wrike
Simple Time Tracking Solution for Small Teams
Wrike is an all-in-one time tracking software that automatically tracks your time and allows you to edit or approve your time logs at the end of the day.
The app allows you to seamlessly manage projects of whatever magnitude and track employees’ time from the same place, making it great for small businesses.
Main Features
Task and Project Monitoring
Wrike helps you track the time spent on tasks and projects. This feature allows you to categorize tasks by job type and even break down projects into several activities.
Computer Screenshots
Automatically take screenshots of your computer screen every five minutes while your timer is running. Wrike’s screenshot recording feature allows you to show clients the progress of your work.
Intuitive Interface
Wrike is a beginner-friendly platform with intuitive controls that enable users to view actual work hours, approve timesheets, and create schedules with just a few clicks.
Pricing
- Unlimited Users
- AI-Powered Processes
- Custom Work Views
- Different Project Templates
- Available in 8 Languages
- 2-25 Users*
- 2 GB Storage/User
- Custom Fields & Workflows
- Project Dashboards
- Calendar and Gantt Chart Views
- 5-200 Users*
- 5 GB Storage/User
- 200 Automations/User
- Enhanced Collaboration
- Resource Management Features
Find out more Wrike pricing
Wrike offers four plans:
- The Free plan
- The Professional plan at $9.80 user/month
- The Business plan at $24.80 seat/month
- For the Enterprise plan, you will need to get custom pricing
4. Time Doctor
Best Time Tracking Tool for Keeping Your Team Engaged
Time Doctor has a good mix of time tracking, project management, and employee tracking functionalities.
The apps’ time management system records and takes screenshots of web apps and pages that employees use, which leaves little chance of them slacking off.
Main Features
Generate Reports
Visualize your reports into graphs and charts to get incredible insights into the performance of your employees in a digestible manner. Time Doctor provides report templates that include idle time, work hours, and tasks employees are completing for you to use.
Employee Attendance and Monitoring
Monitor the attendance and work performance of your employees. Time Doctor creates summaries of the time your employees spend on each client, task, and project.
Online Timesheets
This feature creates seamless timesheets and payroll. Managers can review and approve timesheets, then pay employees based on fixed salaries or hours worked.
Pricing
Time Doctor offers three plans:
- The Basic plan at $7 user/month
- The Standard plan at $10 user/month
- The Premium plan at $20 user/month
5. Hubstaff
Effective Time Tracking Software That Works on Multiple Devices
Over 40,000 businesses use Hubstaff to collaborate, monitor project status, and track billable work hours.
The app also allows you to send invoices to customers and create automatic employee payroll.
Hubstaff also allows you to track your employees' time using a Mac, Linux, and Windows computer as well as an Android and iOS mobile device.
Main Features
GPS Tracker
Track the location of your employees. And know where they are at any moment. This feature is beneficial for companies whose employees travel a lot like sales and delivery people.
User Management
Assign tasks and generate detailed reports. You can also create groups and manage users by team or department. This feature uses permissions for various user types like staff, manager, and admin to control system access.
Manually Add Time Blocks
Correct the time tracked by manually adding a time bloc. This situation can arise when you jump into a consultation call and forget to start the timer, but you want to log and bill hours worked.
Pricing
Hubstaff offers four plans:
- The Desk Free plan is free for one user
- The Desk Starter plan at $7 user/month
- The Desk Pro plan at $10 user/month
- For the Enterprise plan, you will need to get custom pricing
6. Paymo
Low-Cost Time Management Software for Managing Team Availability
Paymo is a project management software that can simultaneously help you keep track of time spent on different projects and tasks and send invoices.
This app has been available online since 2007 and has grown into one of the best time tracking apps in the market today, with over 150,000 businesses using it.
Main Features
Android and iOS Mobile App
View a list of subtasks, tasks, and projects in one convenient place using your mobile device.
Time Tracking
Get a comprehensive look into your employees' productivity levels. This feature gives you a clear picture of how anyone in your organization uses their time by analyzing what they do.
Affordability
Paymo starts with a free plan that allows up to ten users, and the top tier plan is $15.79 per user, paid annually, making it one of the most affordable apps on this list.
Pricing
Paymo offers three plans:
- The Free plan
- The Small Office plan at $9.94 user/month paid annually
- The Business plan at $15.79 user/month paid annually
Get two months free when you pay annually.
7. Clockify
Simple Time Tracking App for Visualizing Time Differently
Clockify is a simple yet powerful time tracking tool with a generous free version and paid plans that are reasonably priced.
The app provides detailed reports on employee activity to understand your teams’ productivity levels.
Main Features
Time Tracking and Analysis
Track and analyze your employees to detect areas that need improvement and give automatic time allocation to the right people.
Manually Edit Time Tracked
If you accidentally leave the timer running, Clockify allows you to manually edit the time log by subtracting however many minutes you were not working.
Data Storage and Exporting Options
Store and export your time results on or to CSV, XML, Excel, PDF, and Google Docs.
Pricing
Clockify offers four plans:
- The Basic plan at $3.99 user/month billed annually
- The Standard plan at $5.49 user/month billed annually
- The Pro plan at $7.99 user/month billed annually
- For the Enterprise plan at $11.99 user/month billed annually
8. Toggl Track
Free Time Tracking Solution for Holding Everyone Accountable
Toggl Track is one of the most popular time tracking app on the market, with over 5 million users. The tool comes with a Firefox and Google Chrome browser extension that flawlessly works with other tools like Trello, Todoist, and Asana.
Main Features
Time Tracking
This feature keeps tabs on everything your employees are doing. That includes idle and active time, checking in and out, and time spent on official apps and browsing the internet.
GPS Tracker
Use an on-the-go productivity tracker to track the exact location of your employees. Know how much time they spend working onsite vs. on the road. This feature is beneficial for employees who travel frequently.
Computer Screenshots
This feature takes screenshots of your computer screen every five minutes to show your clients the progress of your work. That is perfect if you want to provide detailed updates to clients.
Pricing
Toggl Track offers four plans:
- The Free plan for up to 5 users
- The Starter plan at $9 user/month
- The Premium plan at $18 user/month
- For the Enterprise plan, you will need to get custom pricing
9. Harvest
Powerful Time Tracking Software for Remote Teams
Harvest is a time management app for “serious” time trackers such as remote teams and freelancers.
The app collects data as you or your colleagues work, then creates visual, intuitive reports that management can use to make intelligent decisions.
Main Features
Project and Task Monitoring
Harvest helps you monitor the time you or your team spend on tasks and projects. This feature also allows you to break projects down into several activities and categorize tasks into types of jobs.
Reporting and Analytics
Analyze your budget and find areas where you can cut costs. This feature also allows you to easily create reports and summaries from a wide range of data sets relating to tasks.
User Management
This feature uses different permissions to manage system access like admin, manager, and staff. You can manage users by team or department and create groups. User Management also allows you to assign tasks and generate reports based on groups.
Pricing
Harvest offers two plans:
- The Free plan for one user and two projects
- The Pro plan at $12 user/month for unlimited users and projects
Save 10% when you choose to pay annually.
10. Zoho Projects
Affordable Time Management App for Small Agencies
Zoho Projects is a lightweight employee time management platform that also offers task and project management functionalities.
The app has a customizable dashboard that allows you to choose the tools you want to turn on or off, making it easy to focus on what matters most.
Main Features
Alerts and Notifications
Get notified by an automated email or SMS when your team is running behind schedule on a particular project. Zoho Projects can also send your employees a reminder when any of them forget to check-in or out.
Employee Monitoring
See how much time your employees spend working vs. away from the computer. Zoho Projects also sends you daily and weekly email reports to analyze patterns.
Online Payroll and Timesheets
Review and approve timesheets and pay your employees based on an hourly or fixed rate. Choose payment methods such as TransferWise, Payoneer, PayPal, or any other.
Pricing
- Unlimited Projects
- Custom Views
- 100 GB Storage
- 20 Project Templates
- Worlflow Rules
- Custom Fields & Roles
- 10 Guests
- 30 Project Templates
Zoho Projects offers three plans:
- The Free plan for up to 3 users
- The Premium plan at $4 users/month for up to 50 users
- The Enterprise plan at $9 user/month for an unlimited number of users
Save 20% when you choose the annual subscription.
Key Features of Time Tracking Software
1. Time Tracking
The main feature of time tracking software is desktop, mobile, or website tracking in real-time. Most of such apps give you a running clock that you have to launch every time you start a task and pause/stop when you finish.
The app should be able to track your time on any device you use – whether mobile, tab, or computer. That will help employers get accurate data from employees and provide more accessibility to their working situation.
2. Employee Monitoring
The employee monitoring feature helps to keep tabs on the productivity of your team members.
Monitoring also includes location-based monitoring like GPS tracking, which ensures employees are in the right place at the right time.
The digital monitoring aspects also have time management software, which records the apps and websites a user visits after clocking.
Most of these solutions take screenshots at random intervals to ensure that the employee is doing what they are supposed to be doing.
A never-ending debate of the use of this type of software has been ongoing since its inception, so before you deploy it in your business, have an open conversation with your team about how they feel about it.
3. Customizable Interface
The user interface of the solution you want to subscribe to should be customizable and allow users to personalize their accounts theme, displayed values, and views – all based on what they like. Having this capability makes the software more efficient.
4. Flexible Shift Schedules and Time Offsets
Another critical feature of a time tracking app is adjusting any schedule to a local time zone of any user to avoid confusing employees working in different time zones. If your work schedules aren't flexible, this feature will be of no use to you.
5. Customizable Work Hours
If you want a time tracking solution with project management functionalities, then you'll need one that will allow you to customize your workday and week based on specific needs.
That can be when you want to track working hours for tax purposes or to have a detailed insight into the time spent on different tasks. If you're able to customize these aspects, you also manage to improve your workflow.
6. Overtime Tracking
Employees work different amounts of hours depending on the projects they're working on. The time tracking software you choose should help employers and employees to accurately track and record any overtime hours worked on a project or task.
The app should also allow you to do all these based on work week vs. calendar week or month, depending on how you prefer to keep track of working hours.
7. Calculation of Billable vs. Non-Billable Time
A quality time tracking tool should be able to distinguish billable vs. non-billable time effortlessly. It should give you a clear insight into what anyone is doing and help improve work allocation between projects for a more efficient operation.
The app should allow users to edit the logged hours if they forgot to log off when going for lunch, etc. or when they forgot to start the timer when jumping on a consultation call.
8. Export Data in Popular Formats
The last key feature of time tracking software is exporting your data to a spreadsheet, PDF, XML, or CSV file. These formats should work on other platforms like document management and email marketing software.
If your time tracking tool fails to do that, you may run the risk of losing or wasting valuable information while trying to find an alternative solution.
FAQ
Time tracking software is a tool that you can use to track the time someone spends on various tasks and projects.
If multiple people work together on a project, it’s almost impossible to track the amount of effort anyone puts into the job, causing others to slack off and leave you not knowing who did what, and when.
With this solution, employees can effortlessly manage their time on any project and get compensated fairly for their efforts.
Empower employees. Time tracking software keeps your workforce accountable for their actions, which results in trust between them and managers. That trust will then give employees more leeway on how they can meet their deliverables.
Increase in productivity. Time tracking apps help to optimize the workflow of your team as deadlines will be clear.
Automatic time capture. The app takes care of the daunting task of capturing time and other routine tasks such as recording calculations and invoicing.
Promote transparency in the workplace. The app tracks and records billable hours with accuracy, which means you can avoid disputes.
Most time tracking tools cost $0 for their lite versions. However, if you choose this option, you will receive basic functionalities without many features you may want.
If you choose to upgrade to the paid plans, you'll incur charges as low as $8 user/month as in the case of Monday.com and as high as $24.80 user/month as the case of Wrike.
Choosing the Right Time Tracking Software
Choosing the right time tracking software depends on the why, when, and where your business is looking to track time, followed by figuring out the price you’re willing to pay.
After determining what those elements are, you’ll be able to zero down on the tool that suits your business.
- Based on our evaluation, we found that Monday.com is the best time tracking software for small businesses as it strikes the balance of having all the tools you need to efficiently capture your employee’s time while remaining affordable for most business owners.
- If you’re looking for an easy-to-use AI-powered time management system, then Clickup is the best solution for you, it also has a generous free plan for you to get your feet wet.
- If you’re looking to scale operations in your organization, then you need a robust all-in-one time tracking platform like Wrike. Over 20,000 companies in over 140 countries use it.
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Martin Luenendonk
Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.
This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.